


Static Sky

by TwentyCrowsInAKimono



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Female Persona 4 Protagonist, Fluff and Angst, Lots of Angst Though, Sorry Not Sorry, Starts Off Cute But Takes A Nosedive For Depressing, This isn't what you came to the Adachi tag for, Unhealthy Relationships, Vague Mentions of Suicide, but at least they're happy I guess?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 14:07:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30022908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwentyCrowsInAKimono/pseuds/TwentyCrowsInAKimono
Summary: Yuko Narukami moves to Inaba and takes quite a different path from Yu. Where Yu went on adventures in the TV world and saved his friends, Yuko...met Adachi instead. The two quickly become an essential fixture in one another's lives, but how long can they keep this up knowing the dark, unspoken truth hidden beneath the surface?
Relationships: Adachi Tohru/Persona 4 Protagonist
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

Yu and Yuko arrived in Inaba at the same time. They met their uncle and their little cousin, shook hands with the gas station attendant, experienced the same dizziness and the same anxious lucid dream that night. They attended the same school, and there their paths ceased to run parallel to one another.

Yu Narukami made instant friends and was the life of the party. He hung out with Yosuke and Chie and Yukiko, and the four would walk home together, stop off at Junes, and all play with Nanako together.

Yuko Narukami…didn’t.

Yuko shied away from her classmates. She had no interest in making new friends- she just wanted to get this school year over with with as little trouble as possible. That night when she was staring at a blank TV screen and the figure appeared, she reached out a hand and watched it disappear into the screen. She wrenched it back into reality and panicked, asking herself what the hell just happened- then she asked herself, did it matter? What good could possibly come of sticking body parts into alternate dimensions? She had learned all about the TV world from Yu- running around in psychedelic otherworlds, fighting subconscious shadow-monsters, summoning mythological creatures…? Sounded like work for someone with friends to back them up. She wanted no part of it. She wanted to keep her head down and get through this year in peace.  
  
Yu went on adventures in the TV with all his new friends; Yuko didn’t.

Their paths may have truly diverged at the point where each of them met the young detective. Dojima took pity on him, living all alone out in the boonies, and invited him home for dinner one night. Then another, and another, until Adachi became a regular fixture of an evening.

“You don’t have to leave just because Uncle Dojima’s gone to bed, y’know,” Yuko pointed out one night. Nanako had gone to bed long ago, and Dojima had followed her, leaving just her and Adachi.

He looked at her for a moment like she’d called him out “A-alright, then.” He settled back down, seeming somewhat relieved. This, too, became a regular event- the two of them staying up as late as a high school student and a police detective reasonably could, talking about nothing at all.

“So, I’ve been wondering about something,” Adachi put forth tentatively one evening after the Dojimas had retired for the night, in between nursing the last of his beer, “How come I never see you out with any friends?”

Yuko raised her eyebrows condescendingly and said nothing.

“Well, I mean-” he hurriedly babbled on unprompted, “You’re always standing around chatting me up in Junes, and whenever I’ve passed you walking home you’re always on your own, so…”

“Are you implying I don’t have any friends?”

“No!” There was a pause. “…Do you?”

“Nope.” She then sipped her tea instead of elaborating.

“Dojima-san’s pretty worried, y’know. You should be out there enjoying the springtime of your youth or whatever.”

Yuko snorted. “The _what_ of my youth?” she grinned.

“ _Or whatever._ My question is, just…why?”

“Why don’t I have any friends? Hm.” She set her cup down and rested her elbows on the table in thought. “I guess I just don’t have anything in common with my classmates. I listen to them and watch them go on with their stupid little lives, and…eh. I’m not interested in any of them. I keep my head down and don’t bother anyone, and they don’t bother me. I just…don’t care.” She frowned. “That…probably _is_ weird, isn’t it? What about you? Were you the life and soul of the party at my age?”

“Ouch. No, but I sure wish I’d had your conviction back then. I probably would’ve done anything to get people to like me, if anyone had so much as looked my way.”

“Oh,” she murmured, feeling guilty for having prompted his candid answer.

“But hey, that was me. _You’d_ probably be really popular if you made the effort. What about at your old school? You must’ve had friends there, right? A boyfriend, maybe?”

“Not really,” she muttered vaguely. In truth, she didn’t really remember anything clearly from her old school, but that was another matter entirely. It was gnawing at the edge of her worries- but if she could talk to anyone about it, it’d be Yu, and certainly not her uncle’s awkward work buddy with a social boundary bypass.

“Huh. A pretty girl like you should be fighting off guys.”

“Nope.” She blushed, but tried to pass it off as smugness. “You think I’m pretty?”

“D-don’t change the subject. Or tell your uncle I said that.”

She sighed. “Fine. Besides, I told you- I’m just not interested in guys my own age.”

“What, so an older guy would be fine, then?” He laughed and went to take a swig of his neglected beer.

“Why, are you free?”

She couldn’t contain her laughter as she watched Adachi fight a spit-take and almost choke on his beer.

* * *

“I’m home!” Yuko called out as she stepped into the house with Adachi in tow, having picked him up off the street on his way home with the promise of dinner.

“Big sis! Welcome home! Oh, what did you buy from Junes?” Nanakos attention was immediately drawn to the Junes shopping bag Yuko was carrying.

“Da-nananaaaa!” Yuko pulled a plastic container of sushi from the bag and presented it under Nanakos nose.

"Ooooh! Fancy sushi!”

“Heh, yeah, real fancy, store-bought Junes-brand sushi!”

“Tonight we dine in budget style!” Adachi joined in. “Y’know, Yuko-chan, when you promised me dinner, I kind of thought you were going to cook.”

“You’re wrong about lots of things,” she dismissed, removing the transparent cover from the sushi platter and setting it on the table. “Go get the plates.”

Adachi muttered to himself and went about fetching the plates from the cupboard. “Fine, but you realize now you’ve fed me, I can never return to the wild, right? You’re stuck with me now.”

“I can deal with that.”

“Hey, Big Sis, guess what!” Nanako chimed.

“Go on, what?”

“You know how Miyu-chan and the others were making fun of me ‘cuz I couldn’t do a cartwheel the other day? Watch!” Nanako made a serious expression, then did a running cartwheel across the tatami, ending with her arms in the air triumphantly. Yuko and Adachi both applauded with mild enthusiasm as Nanako babbled on excitedly. “I told them they hurt my feelings, then they said they didn’t mean to, and then Miyu-chan taught me how!”

“Hey, good for you, you little acrobat! I sure can’t cartwheel.”

“Really? I thought you could do everything, Big Sis!”

Adachi laughed a little too hard at that. “Everything except cook, maybe.”

Yuko shot him a look, then turned her attention back to Nanako. “Well, I can’t do a cartwheel, but I bet even _you_ can’t do this, Nanako!” She stood up and tied her long skirt tight around her knees to prevent it from riding up, put her hands firmly on the floor, then kicked off and balanced there, perfectly still with her feet straight up in the air. Nanako clapped furiously, in slackjawed awe.

Adachi froze, slackjawed for a totally different reason, with his chopsticks hovering midair en-route to the sushi platter. Her skirt hadn’t ridden up far enough to show her panties, but it certainly didn’t leave much of her legs to the imagination. And her shirt had come untucked from her waistband and was gradually making its way up her midriff, to the point where the very edge of the underwire of her bra, all mustard-coloured lace with pink highlights, was visible. He shook his head to bring himself back to reality and fixed his gaze firmly onto the table in front of him. “I’m taking all the sea urchin, by the way.”

“Don’t you dare!” Yuko chastised in a strained voice.

“Can you walk like that on your hands, Big Sis?” Nanako piped up, ignoring Adachi.

“Hm. Never tried.” She shifted her weight and her expression settled into one of concentration.

“Maybe don’t-” But before Adachi could interject, Yuko lifted one hand off the tatami and instantly toppled sideways with a yelp. Adachi lunged forward on one knee, her sideways trajectory landing Yuko neatly in his arms.

Nanako gasped. “Big Sis! Are you okay?”

“I think so. Thank you, Adachi-san.”

“That’s what you get for showing off for Nanako-chan,” he said, standing up.

“You can put me down now.”

He ignored her and winked at Nanako. “Y’know, it’d be a shame if I were to just…” he abruptly let her go for a fraction of a second, causing her to squeak and cling to him, “ _drop you!”_

Nanako was giggling uncontrollably while Yuko kicked her feet and threw her arms tightly around Adachis neck. “Don’t you dare! Put me down!!”

“Whaddaya think, Nanako? Should I put her down?”

“ _Noooooooo!”_ , Yuko whined, kicking her feet again and clinging to him harder in anticipation of the laws of gravity.

“Alright, I won’t!” He then knelt at the table again, with Yuko on his lap. She folded her arms and huffed, trying not to laugh herself, and rested her head on his shoulder in resignation.

“Hey Nanako?” Yuko called out, an idea in her head. “Wanna see how we deal with rotten boys?” Before Adachi could react, she planted a firm kiss on his cheek, and while he was dazed, she grabbed the sea urchin off his plate, stuffed it in her mouth, and bounded over to where Nanako was sitting with her arms up in the V for victory pose, then plopped on the floor next to her and the two girls double-high-fived, Nanako in hysterics the whole time.

Adachi would take days to mentally recover.

* * *

“So, what’s the special occassion? Did you have a date today?” Adachi teased one evening.

Yuko furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”

“That outfit. I’ve never seen you wear those clothes before.”

“You don’t know all my clothes.”

“I know you’re always wearing the same, like, four outfits. And one of those is your school uniform.”

Crap. He’d called her out. It was true that she hadn’t worn the outfit she was wearing in a while- a flowing powder blue skirt with lace around the hem, a yellow deep-V-neck sleeveless top, and a lilac light cardigan with lace around the cuffs to match the skirt, along with a tiny leaf-shaped pendant that subtly drew attention to her cleavage. It was the cutest ensemble she owned and she was killing it and she knew it. And wearing it _may_ or may nothave been her way of breaking out the big guns in catching _someones_ eye.

“So?” she huffed, folding her arms. “It _is_ summer. It’s wardrobe change season.”

“Alright, I believe you. No need to get defensive,” he said smugly.

“Anyway, what about you? Telling me _I_ wear the same clothes all the time… Pot calling the kettle black, much?”

“Hey, I _have_ to wear suits all the time for work! Speaking of which,” he stood up and stretched, “I should really get going if I wanna get up on time for work tomorrow.”

“Yeah, right! You’re just mad I called you out on wearing the same suits all the time. You don’t even wear them properly!”

“Uh, how do you wear something ‘properly’?”

“Well, not like a scruffy trainwreck, for a start. A police detective should look like someone the public can rely on.” She scooted into his personal space before he could object and started straightening his tie.

Adachi was momentarily silenced. “H-hey, c’mon, I’m only walking home…Who’s even gonna see me at this time of night?”

“Not the point,” she hummed. After realising the tie was a lost cause, she undid it completely and starting tying it from scratch.

A heavy silence descended as she worked, and she was sure to take her time, savouring their proximity. Afraid of the heat she could feel rising in her cheeks, she didn’t look up at him until she finally finished. She ran her hands down the tie to smooth it out and prolong their closeness for a few extra seconds, and finally looked up. At this point she realised several things in quick succession:

  1. At some point Adachis hands had come to rest on her waist.



  1. His breathing had become slightly heavy.



  1. So had hers.



  1. Their faces were inching closer.



She had always imagined her first kiss would be dynamic and turbulent, with her heart pounding in her chest and butterflies exploding in her guts. In reality, the calmness that came over her when their lips met was overwhelming- instead of the world bursting into colour and sound there was a silence unlike she’d known. The only movement in the world right now was their lips against one another.

Then they separated reluctantly, and reality came rushing back in.

“...Oh god.” She looked down, unable to face him with the searing redness rising in her cheeks. Her hands flew up to her mouth, touching her lips where they were connected seconds ago. “What did we just…?”

He placed a hand on her head to calm her. “We…really shouldn’t talk about this here.” She nodded. “Look, come to my place tomorrow. You know which one’s mine, right? I get off work around 6.” Another nod. “You’re…not crying, are you…?”  
  
She shook her head but her voice was shaking when she spoke. “Sorry, I’m just…really happy…”

He suddenly pulled her close, his arms wrapped tight around her shoulders. “I’ll…see you tomorrow, okay?”

He let her go and made for the door, and with that awkward goodbye, he was gone, leaving her alone with her anxiety.

* * *

Needless to say, she couldn’t focus the whole day. The minutes ticked by agonisingly slowly, and she found herself out the classroom door before the end-of-day bell had finished ringing. Even the walk home felt like miles, and she still had to keep her heart from collapsing on itself until 6pm.

What was waiting for her at home was the last thing she needed.

“Hey, you’re back.” Dojima sat at the kitchen table and gave her a forced-casual greeting the moment she opened the door. He’d clearly been waiting.

“You’re home early.”

“Ah, not for long. I’m working late again tonight. I’m just on a break, I have to get back to the station after this.”

“After…what?”

“Sit down,” he said, forcing that casual tone again. He pushed the chair opposite out with his foot. “We need to have a talk. You’re not in trouble, don’t worry. Just a chat, is all.”

She sat at the chair diagonally opposite instead, heart in her mouth. “Where’s Nanako?”

“She’s at a friends house.” So he’d been waiting until Nanako was out of the way, hence the impromptu ‘break’. “Now, I don’t know the first thing about…about high school girls and their hormones, but…” He looked around the room awkwardly as if looking for inspiration. “…Yuko, is there anyone at school you…like?”

“I already know all about the birds and the bees. There was a whole demonstration thing at my old school.”

He chuckled awkwardly. “No, it’s not _that_ talk. Just answer the question.”

“Um. No…?”

“How about outside of school?”

“No, not really.” She tried to say it nonchalantly, but she’d denied it too quickly and found herself unable to resist averting her eyes, the heat in her cheeks giving her away.

“So there _is_ someone, and it’s not someone at school.” He was using his detective interrogation skills on her. That couldn’t be considered fair. “You know, Nanako said something interesting the other day. I went to pick her up from school, and a boy in her class was picking on her. Before I could step in, she ran up to him and just…kissed him right on the cheek.” He laughed, a genuine one this time. “You shoulda seen the look on the kids face! She sure showed him who’s boss. I gotta admit, I was kinda proud right there.”

She knew where this was going, but forced a laugh anyway. “Well, no-one messes with a Dojima, huh?”

“Well, actually, I’m sure you already know this, but she said she learned it from you.”

Yuko put her hands up, hoping she didn’t sound too desperate. “Guilty! Us girls have to look out for-”  
  
”She said you used it on Adachi.”

“Y-yeah…I mean, it was…I was just trying to make Nanako laugh…”

“Look, I know, okay? I’ve noticed how close you two are now.”

She kept her gaze firmly locked onto her hands in her lap, clutching at her skirt to stop them shaking. _Oh god he knew oh god he knew oh god he knew-_

“Now, it’s not…” He rubbed his face with both hands and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I mean, it’s…it’s perfectly _normal_ for a kid your age to have… _feelings_ toward someone older. Why _that_ layabout I’ll never understand, but high school’s a weird time, I guess. Hell, what teenager hasn’t had a crush on a teacher or whoever? Heh, when I was in school I had the biggest crush on my English teacher. I’m pretty sure she was married, but 15-year-old me was sure I had a shot, haha…”

So…he _didn’t_ know…? She mentally breathed a sigh of relief, but her relief was short-lived when she realised that this conversation had become a hundred percent more awkward. He thought it was one-sided…! Now her uncle saw her as some hormonal teen crushing on his coworker…! She pictured the wood flooring sliding open enough for her to sink into the ground and closing up over her head, willing it to really happen.

“But, well,” he continued once he noticed she wasn’t laughing, “you’ve got to understand how someone in his position would feel. The two of you get along great, and I’m glad, really- but there’s no doubt he sees you as, well, a little sister, maybe?” A sister. Her stomach dropped through the floor. “After all, we’re kind of the only family he’s got.”

She finally looked up. “What?”

“Adachi doesn’t really have much of a family. Not one worth a damn, anyway. That’s why I brought him in, really. Felt sorry for the guy.” He looked lost in thought for a moment, then came back to himself. “Oh, but that’s not your problem. If it’s too weird, I can still stop inviting him over for a while…”

“No! No… It’s alright, really.”

“Right. Well…you’re being awful brave about this.” His forced words of encouragement fell on deaf ears.

“Has…has he said anything to you…?”

“No, no, he hasn’t. Honest. This is just my take on the matter. I’d put money on him being none the wiser.” _I wouldn’t be too sure,_ she thought. “Just…try not to be too obvious, okay? It’ll pass, believe me.” He stood and patted her shoulder on the way past. “I’d better get back to the station. I’ll see you later, alright?”

“See you later.” She listened for the door before finally letting her shoulders drop.

* * *

_“After all, we’re kind of the only family he’s got.”_

_“You’ve got to understand how someone in his position would feel.”_

She set out a few minutes after six, to allow Adachi to get home before she arrived. Dojimas words were still bouncing around in her head. Was _she_ the one that misconstrued the situation? Looking back, he was awfully non-committal. He’d just promised they’d talk about it later and left. Maybe she’d read the kiss wrong- she thought he’d kissed her back, but what if it was really her doing all the work…? But, no…when she kissed him, his hands were already on her waist. …But what if it was just…reflexive? Maybe he used to have a girlfriend that fixed his tie for him like that, and he acted unconsciously on muscle memory.

_“We’re kind of the only family he’s got.”_

She winced remembering those words. Now she might’ve blown it by making things eternally awkward between them. Adachi had practically no-one, then Dojima invited him into his home, his family, and now she’d gone and…

She felt tears prick the corners of her eyes and blinked them back. She was here, at his door. She rang the doorbell abruptly without giving herself time to think in case she lost her nerve. She didn’t have to fret for long as he pulled the door open almost immediately. She was somewhat relieved that he at least looked genuinely pleased to see her.

“You really came.”

“Of course I did,” she smiled weakly.

He stepped aside for her to come in. She examined the room- a spartan kitchen with the bare necessities, no personal effects or knick-knacks lining the surfaces- with her apologies and explanations swirling around in her head. She turned to face him and-

Her doubts melted away seeming insignificant as he pressed her to the wall, his lips on hers once again. This time their kiss was deep and passionate- this was the turbulent, rushing feeling she’d expected, like being thrown around in a breaking ten-foot wave, her heart roaring in her ears. She snaked her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, before they finally pulled away.

“You’re…okay with this?”, he breathed. “You’re not going to push me away, or…?”

She gently placed her hand on his cheek. “Of course not. I’m…” She felt the tears rising again. “I’m really happy…Adachi-san. I’ve r-really liked you…for a long time now…”

He looked at her in a way she’d never seen before. It was a look of utter disbelief, as though he didn’t even know those words could go together in a sentence like that, and for a moment she was sure he was either going to cry or yell at her. Instead, he kissed her again with full force, pulling her flush against him so tightly she was almost lifted off her feet.

At some point they had moved into the next room to the bed, although Yuko couldn’t quite pinpoint when, too caught up in their passion. She lay with her head rested on his chest, both hands interlaced with his.

“Dojima-san can never find out about this, you know,” Adachis voice broke the silence.

“Oh, it’s alright. He already knows, he’s cool with it.” She slid off of him abruptly as he sat up to glare at her. “What? Come on, how stupid do you think I am? Of course he can’t find out.”

“Don’t even joke about that. If he did, I’d be the one in trouble.”

“I know. I _do_ care. I wouldn’t get off all that lightly either. I have _way_ worse relatives my folks could send me to live with. He won’t find out. I promise. Speaking of which…” She stood up and started for the door. “I really need to get going already.”

“Whoa, wait-” he started, pulling her back by the hand. “It feels like you just got here. I was kind of hoping we could…do _more_.” He lowered his voice seductively, and was stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

“Hey, no. I don’t have a good enough cover story for coming home this late as it is. Unless you want to explain to my uncle where I was?”

He sighed. “Yeah, yeah, point taken.”

“Besides…” she continued, flushing red and looking down at both their hands, “you know I’ve never…”

“Yeah,” he said softly, “I know. Forget I said anything. Take as long as you need…I can wait. But when can I see you like this again?”

She shrugged. “You’re the one with the crazy work schedule. You tell me.”

He frowned. “My next day off is Wednesday. I never get weekends off, you know.”

“So I’ll skip school.”

“I don’t think-”

She put a finger to his lips to shush him. “I’m way ahead in school. I’ll ace all the homework, and the tests, and no-one will even notice. It’ll be fine. I promise.”

He saw her off with another kiss, then slumped against the door even as it closed. He’d meant it. He could wait- someone like Yuko came along maybe once in a lifetime, and he wasn’t going to lose her by getting too greedy too soon.

At first he’d panicked about having left so suddenly yesterday, leaving a whole day for Dojima to potentially find out what had happened between them. He maybe could’ve twisted it so that she had come onto him, but he didn’t have that much faith that Dojima would believe him. And he couldn’t really be sure how she felt about him at the time. No, he’d made the right choice to finish their encounter at his place- his TV was just about big enough to fit her through if things hadn’t worked out the way he thought.

He couldn’t believe he’d been considering it up until less than an hour ago. That was before she’d told him how she felt. Out of everyone, she’d picked him- she hadn’t even wasted her time on the little boys that undoubtedly sniffed around her at school. If one of them got with her, they wouldn’t know what they had, and would throw her aside in no time without a second thought. She deserved better and she knew it. She deserved _him_ , and no-one else. And now he had all the time in the world with her, and he was going to make sure to savour every moment of it.

…So long as his boss never found out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dojima finds out. *It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia theme plays*

“Yuko,” Dojima brought up sternly, “I had a call from the school today. Your homeroom teacher was worried about your health…since you’d been calling in sick so often lately.” The last part was enunciated and deliberate. ‘Worried about her health’? Yeah right. No way was King Moron under the impression that her skipping school was anything but. That was Dojimas interrogation techniques at work again, playing the ‘Good Cop’. Coaxing her into spilling the beans by lulling her into a false sense of security.

“I can explain.” No point following along in his little charade. “Yes, I’ve been skipping out on school. But-” Yuko saw her uncles mouth open to scold her, but cut him off. “It’s not what you think. Look…it’s exams coming up soon. Every class is just going over the same material every time. But I already _know_ the material. I’ve been taking my work elsewhere to study the stuff I’m actually weak on, and get ahead for the next term. That’s all it is, I swear.” It wasn’t a lie that she was ahead in school. Way ahead, in fact. She knew the test answers off the top of her head by now.

Dojima folded his arms and looked down at her scrutinizingly. “Oh, really? And where have you been studying? You haven’t been staying home.”

She had no doubt he would have verified that fact by subtly interrogating Nanako, or by stopping by the house from time to time. She’d already anticipated this. “The park, mostly. Sometimes I hang around the cafeteria at Junes, though, in case I get hungry.” She saw his eyes narrow. “If you don’t believe me, ask Adachi-san,” who was also in on her little cover story, of course. “He caught me at Junes before…I made him promise not to tell you. Please don’t be mad at him, he just didn’t want to get me into trouble-”

“I’ve heard enough.” He tensed briefly, then softened. “I get that your grades are important, but…all this…?”

“I-it’s not that I want to get ahead _that_ badly. It’s just…well, isn’t it a waste of time to be in school if I already know what’s being covered? I just didn’t want to go any more, but I’d feel bad just slacking off, so I filled the time with studying instead, so-”

“Yuko. It’s not up to you to decide whether you need to be in school or not. If you don’t attend, _I_ could get in trouble, you understand that, don’t you? Besides…” he softened again. “High school isn’t just about grades. You should be out there making friends, enjoying your youth…” Where had she heard _that_ before? “…Not pouring over textbooks all the time. If I’m honest…I’d be less worried if you were slacking off to hang out with friends, or a boyfriend or something…” She almost snorted out loud at the irony. Dojima sighed, visibly agitated and at a loss. “Just…show up to your classes, okay? If I find out you’ve been skipping school again, there’ll be consequences.”

She nodded in silence.

“...I’m going to bed.”

Yuko waited for her uncle to settle for the night before leaving the house, following the sudden urgent need she felt to see Adachi. She made for his apartment at a leisurely pace, hoping he’d still be awake as she pulled up her phone and started typing.

_Are you free r n? X_

The weather was changing. She pulled her light jacket tighter around her against the fall chill creeping in, and wondered when lying had started to come so naturally to her. Maybe she got it from Yu. Nah, he only lied when he had to. It was far easier for her. Her phone buzzed in her hand.

_Nah im really busy drinking alone and watching tv without my cute girlfriend. Course not, come over dumbass x_

She couldn’t help grinning to herself, holding her phone to her chest as she picked up the pace.

~ ~ ~

“So what’s on your mind? It’s not like you to come by this late,” he said, closing the door behind her.

“Oh, nothing in particular…I just wanted to see you all of a sudden, is all.”

“Funny…I was thinking the same thing.” He pulled her in close for a chaste kiss. “Just as long as you’re careful. It’s my ass on the line, y’know?”

“Actually, about that…” She felt him freeze. “Don’t worry, my uncle doesn’t know. But…he found out about me pulling sick days. It’ll be harder to find time together from now on…” She made for the other room with Adachi following. “I’ll get a part-time job, maybe two. Then I can just say I have a late shift from time to time. If I get two, then if he ever shows up at the place I’m working and I’m not there, I can say I was at the other one-”

“What, you’re going to go to school full-time, _and_ work two jobs, _and_ find time to see me? Man, I can barely get out of bed in the morning for one job…”

She sat down on the bed heavily. “I just…don’t know what to do.”

“It’s fine. We’ll just hang out in the evenings whenever we can. You’ll have vacations, and I’m bound to get a Sunday off once in a while. It’s not as much as I’d like to see you, but…we can settle, right?”

She sprawled out on the bed with a frustrated sigh. “Yeah…yeah, you’re right…Sorry for worrying you.”

He shrugged in reply, settling on the edge of the bed. “Hey,” he smirked, “if you start making yourself comfortable in my bed, you’re gonna give me ideas.”

“Well,” she said, propping herself up on her elbows, “maybe I have some ideas of my own.” His hand was on her thigh, tracing circles with his thumb on the flesh just under the hem of her skirt. “You know…Dojima usually leaves before I’m up in the morning. If I’m not there, he won’t even know I’m gone.”

The next thing, he was crawling over her form, his hands on her, pushing her into the mattress as he kissed her feverishly. They peeled each others clothes off slowly, like unwrapping a present.

Their first time together was agonisingly slow. He could see the pain in her face as she lowered herself onto him at a frustrating pace, and his hands shook and grasped at her thighs with the effort it took to hold back from thrusting inside her. There was blood coming off on him, mixed in with her juices- he got a sick sort of satisfaction from it, from how she was willing to hurt and bleed just to pleasure him. To pleasure _herself_ to him.

“Adachi-san-”

“Don’t you think,” he breathed, “we’re a little…past you calling me that?”

Her face burned bright red. “T…Tohru-kun…” It was cute how flustered she was. This wasn’t even their first time in bed together. It was the first time they’d gone all the way, but they were no strangers to each others bodies by now- and yet calling him by his first name was the thing that got to her. “I…think I’m ready. I want you to…move inside me…”

He turned them over so he was on top. Looking down at her flushed face in a lust-clouded haze, he suddenly worked up his nerve. “Beg.” Her expression changed to surprise, and part of him thought he’d taken it too far- the other part, however, saw her shock, as though she couldn’t believe he had the audacity, and it only pushed him further. “B-beg for it. Tell me how much you want me.”

“I…please…” She had flushed an even deeper red than before, unable to look him in the eye. “Please…I-I need you…! Please, fuck me, Tohru…!”

He was already pounding into her, pushed over the edge by her performance. Her legs clamped around his waist and he felt her tighten around him, and their moans filled the room as they climaxed together, before silencing one another with a messy kiss, as they rode out the aftershocks of their orgasm. By the time they were spent, it took all his energy just to throw the used condom aside and collapse next to her, pressed against the cold wall in the cramped single bed.

Something occurred to him as he lay there, catching his breath- in a way, it was his first time too. He’d never made love with someone who actually cared about him before. This was an entirely new experience. Not only that, but had _anyone_ ever really loved him? Or even given two shits about him!? The revelation hit him like a train, although in retrospect, it should’ve been obvious to him. Why, then, had he had to wait so long just to find someone that cared for him…? It had taken all this time to find the one, the _one_ woman in the world that wasn’t like all the others, his one shot at happiness, and she was ten years younger than him and his boss’ niece, _and_ only in Inaba for a year, to complicate things further. Because letting him just be happy in a socially acceptable relationship was too much, apparently. His anger at the injustice of it all rose inside him and stung his eyes, and he felt a sudden rush of adrenaline, and the urge to punch something. Instead, he opted to pull Yuko into his arms, holding her so tightly he was afraid of crushing her. He hoped his shoulders weren’t shaking as she lazily drew her arms around him in return.

This feeling, in this moment…he deserved it. He’d earned it. He deserved _her_. And he decided right there that if anyone tried to take her from him, if anyone came between them, he’d take care of either them or himself. Without her, life wasn’t worth living.

* * *

“Hey, Yuko…” Adachi leaned against the dining table in the Dojimas’ kitchen as casually as he could, while Yuko was washing the dishes one evening. “What do you think you’ll do when you go back to the city in Spring?”

Her hands faltered. He meant, what would she do about their relationship. She had been putting off this conversation as long as possible. But December was closing in, and the remaining months would fly by. “Well…I’ll only have one year left of high school in the city. What will _you_ do?”

“Me? Well, I’m stuck here, obviously…” he trailed off, clearly dissatisfied with her vague non-answer.

“You know…after high school, I wouldn’t mind coming back here. Like, permanently.”

“Oh? There’s nothing here, though.”

“There’s…I mean, I was kind of hoping there’d still be you.” She’d been scrubbing the same pan for way too long. It was the last thing in the bowl, though, and she had no idea what else to do with her hands. She wished he’d brought this up earlier so it’d be easier to look busy instead of terrified to death of his answer to what she knew she had to ask. “That is…if you’d wait that long…?”

Before she knew it, his arms were around her shoulders, hugging her tightly from behind. “Thank god,” he sighed. “Of course I would. I waited this long to meet you, didn’t I?” Yuko breathed an internal sigh of relief and dropped the pan in the sink, turning her head to kiss him. They pulled away just as the front door sounded, and leapt apart, Yuko drying her hands and Adachi leaning against the table again, looking like they’d just been chatting.

Yuko quickly noticed a number of holes in this plan:

  1. It was dark outside.



  1. The light was on, illuminating the kitchen to the outside.



  1. The look on Dojimas face from the doorway.



The silence was heavy and lasted an eternity, and suddenly Yuko felt like Atlas, cursed to carry the Earth on his shoulders for all time. A clever analogy, she thought. She certainly didn’t feel clever right now.

“How long has this been going on?” Dojima sounded strangely calm. It was unsettling.

“About-”

“I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to him.” He cut her off immediately, still calm, like he was still processing how he was supposed to feel. “HOW LONG!?” There it is.

Adachi flinched. “I dunno. Since…summer?” Yuko sneaked a glance at him. He wasn’t looking Dojima in the eye. He wasn’t really looking anywhere- just staring vacantly in the general direction of the floor.

“And you.” Yuko jumped when Dojima turned on her suddenly. “You…We _talked_ about-!” He looked around the room, as if the words would just appear somewhere in front of him. “Did this happen before or after our little chat?”

“After.” She didn’t dare mention that it was the very same day. Or that it technically started before.

“Oh, so you deliberately ignored me. Of course. I…” He turned back to Adachi, seemingly torn between which of them to focus his anger on first. “I brought you into my _home._ I felt sorry for you- I wanted you to feel like you had somewhere to belong here. People who cared about you. I thought maybe you saw me as a friend- not as your ticket to-” he started to gesture toward Yuko, unable to finish his sentence.

“Come on, it’s not like that and you know it!” Yuko exploded, finally finding the drive to speak her mind. “I made the first move. So yeah, I ignored you. And I’m glad I did! Why is it so hard to believe that two people with a _little_ bit of an age difference just…found each other!? Why do you think this is all some scheme just to hurt _you?_ We’re not even that far apart in age! How much younger than you was Chisato?”

He looked at her for the longest time, and she retreated, instantly regretting her words. “You don’t want to finish that argument,” he said slowly. She knew she’d gone too far already, but she couldn’t help it.

“What would’ve happened if you’d met her when she was in high school?”

“Whatever you think is happening, isn’t,” he cut her off again, refusing to be provoked. He turned back to Adachi again, who hadn’t moved or made a sound. “You’re awful quiet. Nothing to say? Not even going to back her up?”

Another heavy silence. “…No.” Suddenly, Adachi started toward the door.

Yuko stared incredulously for a moment, unable to compute what was happening, before rushing over and grabbing him by the arm. “Tohru-kun-!”

“Don’t you get it!?” Adachi snapped, sounding not angry, but just…tired. “It’s over, that’s it. I’ll get out of your hair.” He stopped on the threshold and muttered, simply, “Bye, Yuko.”

And then he just walked out the door.

She stood there, feeling numb. Like her body and soul turned to stone, and the last four months was dust that had already been carried away on the wind.

“Well,” she heard Dojimas voice from beside her, but the sound felt distant, as did his hand on her shoulder. “Guess that’s just how it goes. ...I’m sorry, Yuko. Really.” She was vaguely aware of him sitting at the table behind her, running his hand through his hair. “I thought you could trust me, that you could talk to me. I’m…I’m sorry you couldn’t. If the two of you had come to me from the start, maybe…I would’ve understood. Maybe it’s for the best that you didn’t. At least now he’s shown his true colours. Just one thing…” She saw him rest his head in his hands from the corner of her vision. “Did you…? No, I don’t want to know. But…I have to. Did you…you know…?”

“No,” she lied. No point in hurting him further.

“Right. Good. Of course.” He breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

“I’m sorry…I said what I did. About…about Nanakos mom…”

He seemed confused for a moment. “Oh. No…you were right.”

There was another long silence. When she realised she was still standing there, she excused herself and made for her room, still in a daze. She barely felt the tears on her face, and didn’t succumb to them until after she closed the door.

* * *

“He hasn’t shown up for work the past three days,” Dojima announced quietly, sitting at the table while Yuko poured some coffee one evening. She didn’t need any context- she hadn’t seen Adachi around town, but assumed he’d been avoiding her. Somehow, this new information gave her an ominous, sinking feeling.

Dojima continued. “I went to his apartment, but he didn’t answer the door. I knew where he kept his spare key, so I let myself in…but he was gone. It looked like no-one had been there for a few days. You haven’t…?”

“Heard anything? No.” There was that numbness setting in again, conflicting with an underlying panic.

“I thought maybe he’d contact you first if he were going to do anything…drastic.”

Drastic… She thought over the last words he’d said to her. _It’s over. That’s it. Bye, Yuko._ Dread washed over her. She’d just assumed that was his way of ending things with her, that he lost interest as soon as things became difficult. But maybe that goodbye was more of a permanent goodbye.

“Yuko...Was I…wrong…? About the two of you…Was I too harsh…?” She didn’t answer. He barked out a wry laugh. “Of course I know what you want to say. …Maybe you’re right, though.”

~ ~ ~

She sat there, in her room, the one she shared with Yu. She never spoke to him, rarely acknowledged him at all- but at a loss, she asked him for the first time, “Yu…what should I do? What would _you_ do?” But he didn’t have an answer for her. She didn’t know why she thought he might. He was too busy with everyone elses problems, she guessed, bitterly.

Unable to sit still, she sulked downstairs to find Dojima gone. Probably for a walk, hoping to just happen across Adachi, like he’d just been misplaced somewhere on the side of the road. She made herself some tea, and sat at the kotatsu, alone. If she closed her eyes, it felt as though she could open them and see him sitting across from her again, nursing the same beer he’d started the evening with, cracking some dumb joke she couldn’t help smiling at, or making a playful jab at her. Then something darker would flash in his eyes, making her blush, and he’d lean across to kiss her, pulling her into his lap, and everything would just feel _right-_

A few tears dropped from her eyelashes onto the table, and she wiped her eyes, pulling herself back to reality.

“Big Sis…?” Yuko turned to see her cousin there at the foot of the stairs, and felt a genuine smile as she beckoned her into the living room. “You and Dad have been fighting, haven’t you?”

“N-no. Not any more. Sorry if we worried you, Nanako.”

“Dad found out about you and Adachi-san, didn’t he?”

Yuko stared at her cousin. “Did…did you know?”

Nanako nodded. “I saw you kiss him goodbye one night. Like how grown-ups kiss. And I knew Dad didn’t know, so I knew it must be a secret. But I didn’t tell! I promise! I kept it a secret real good! He didn’t find out because of me, did he? I promise I tried real, real hard! Did I do something wrong?”

Yuko felt tears creep up again, and took Nanakos hand. “No. No, of course not. You knew all along? Did you know why it was a secret?” Nanako shook her head. “But you kept it a secret anyway?” Nanako nodded. She pulled her little cousin onto her lap and hugged her tightly. “Thank you, Nanako. Thank you _so_ much.”

“If you and Dad aren’t fighting any more, why are you crying? Are you and Adachi-san fighting?”

“Heh. Sort of,” she laughed wryly, trying to keep her voice from cracking. “Adachi-san is…gone. He ran away. So…you won’t have to keep any more secrets, okay?”

“Oh…”

A few moments passed in silence as Yuko just held her cousin. Talking to her helped, somehow- grounded her. “Say, Nanako…what would Big Bro do?”

Nanako thought for a moment. “He’d…bring Adachi-san back,” she said decisively. The she furrowed her brow in confusion, “wait…”

“Bring him back, huh? Yeah, he’d probably have no problem-” a distant screech of car tires and the whine of police sirens broke into her thoughts, interrupting her with an idea. She knew exactly where he’d gone. She stood up in a daze and strode toward the front door, further confusing Nanako. “Don’t wait up for me, Nanako,” she said, heading out without bothering to grab her coat, “I might be out a while.”

The fog was thick, turning the yellow streetlights a sickly green. Snow was falling, but not settling. She regretted coming out without a jacket, but she was striding toward Adachis place with a mission now. Dojima was bound to open up a missing persons case in the morning, but it’d be a waste of time.

She found the spare key where it always was, and let herself in. It was empty, just as Dojima had said. She crossed to the TV without wasting any time, positive this was the one he would’ve used, and stepped through.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not usually one for songfics or anything, but I highly recommend listening to "Afterglow" by Eyeshine as an accompaniment to this particular chapter (could also be taken as a theme for the whole fic)! Can YOU guess why I chose this particular band?

The fog was thick, but really, it wasn’t much different from the other side by now. She didn’t have the glasses Teddie made for Yu- she wondered if there even still _was_ a Teddie here. But she didn’t need them. She knew he couldn’t be far. This had to be the TV he’d used, after all.

It wasn’t long before she found him, lying sprawled on his back, not moving, staring up at…whatever this place had in place of a sky. “Tohru-kun…?” she called out meekly, momentarily fearing the worst.

He jolted upright and looked around, staring at her for a few moments incredulously. Now she was closer, she could see how drawn he was. “How did…? How are you here?” His gaze darkened. “Someone didn’t push you in, did they?”

“Nah. Got here all by myself. You’re not the only one that can do it. The TV thing, I mean.”

He stared at her for another few moments, then resignedly lay back down with a heavy sigh. “So I’m not the only one. Even with supernatural powers, I’m not special.” He muttered quieter, “Can’t have shit in Inaba…”

“So, is this just what’s gonna happen? Every time life gets hard, you’re gonna disappear in here and I have to haul you back?” He stayed silent. She knelt down beside him. “Dojima’s okay with it, by the way. I think. With us, I mean. Your little disappearing act convinced him you were serious about me, or whatever. It convinced me, too. Thanks for just walking out without a word, by the way. Very cool of you.”

“Are you still mad at me?”

“Right now I’m just glad to see you in one piece. Ask me again when I’m over it.” She looked around, her vision barely piercing the thick yellow fog. She could just about make out some scaffolding and spotlights, like a TV studio. Fitting for the inside of the TV. “Isn’t this a little dramatic? What, were you planning to just…stay here forever?”

“I’ve been home a few times. I came in here thinking this place was a death sentence. I sat around waiting for something to happen, but nothing came. If anything, this world’s been pretty nice to me so far. So I had to rethink my plans. It’s given me a lot of time to think about a lot of things, actually.”

She felt cold all of a sudden. So he really had planned to end it- but when he lost his nerve, he decided to dick around for days on end instead of checking in with her. Instead of even _thinking_ about how she’d feel. Anger bubbled up in her and floated away just as quickly, as though she didn’t even have the energy to get mad at him right now. She promised herself she’d make him pay later. Right now her priority was to drag him back to reality, even if he was kicking and screaming the whole way. “What kinds of things?” she asked through gritted teeth.

“You. Me. Everything, really. Dojima finding out about us…that’s not the reason I can’t go back. At first, it was. But then, the more I thought about us, I realised something. What we have…” His hand, which had been resting on his chest, gripped his shirt tightly. “…just _hurts._ ”

She flinched as though she’d been slapped in the face. “What do you mean, it hurts…? I thought…you were happy.”

“I was. I am. That’s the problem. I love you. But you don’t love me.”

“I-”

“No,” he let out a hollow laugh, “you don’t. You love who you think I am.” He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. “I decided there was something you should know.” He finally turned to look at her, and stared her straight in the eye as he told her, “I did it.”

She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, feeling both an ominous, looming dread and a strange sense of relief at the same time. As though a huge weight was being lifted and replaced with another, heavier one. “I know.”

“I’m talking about the murders. The ones in Inaba, back in Spring- that me and your uncle have been busting our asses to solve? The reporter and that…that girl. I did it. I pushed them both into the TV and they showed up dead a few days later. I did it because-”

“Because you were bored, because you hated this shitty world. I know,” she repeated.

He propped himself up on his elbows, squinting at her in confusion. “What do you mean, ‘you know’? What could you possibly know?”

“Lots of things.” She shifted her weight and looked off into the fog as she spoke. “I know all about this world. About Personas. About Mayumi Yamano and Saki Konishi. I know all about Yu and his friends, and about the kidnappings this year.”

He was looking at her like she was speaking a made-up language. “You’ve lost me.”

“It’s like…a cup. It started off empty, but over this past year, it’s been filling up, gradually. Each droplet filling it up is some new information- a memory that isn’t mine. Today, I think the last droplet filled it to the brim. I remember everything now. And I know…” She finally turned to look him in the eye again. “…I know that the world is going to end soon.”

He was still for the longest time, before finally, slowly standing. A sudden, crazed laugh escaped him. “So, that’s why you’re here? Not for me…Just to stop me from bringing about the end of the world?”

“Tohru-kun, no-”

“Save it. I didn’t have any intention of letting it come to pass, really. If some god wanted to use me, I wasn’t gonna make it easy for him. But, you know what?” Suddenly she felt an overbearing, deadly presence looming up behind her. “Maybe I’ll hear ‘em out.”

She leapt out of the way just in time as the Reapers gun tore up the ground where she was standing. Instinctively, she called for Kohryu and an explosion of lightning lit up the area. She followed up by summoning Sraosha to knock the Reaper flying backwards into the fog until she heard a sickening crunch of bones on concrete. It was like she wasn’t even out of practice.

She scanned the area quickly before the Reaper could recover, just in time to see Adachi disappear into the fog, and she was giving chase before she knew it. The ground seemed to fly beneath her, and her lungs burned, and her vision was impaired by the fog, but her desperation kept her going. She knew where she was now. She recognised it from Yus memories- the bloodstained apartment block. She’d lost Adachi by now, but she knew exactly where to find him.

Yuko stepped into the blood-splattered room cautiously. Adachi was sitting on the edge of the bed in the corner of the room, illuminated by the yellow haze from the window. His head was in his hands, and one hand held a pistol- she guessed it was the replica he owned, modified to fire real bullets. He had mentioned he’d been home a few times since disappearing into the TV- he’d apparently come back in here prepared. When he heard her footsteps, he jumped to his feet and suddenly Magatsu-Izanagi was flying toward her. She crushed a tarot in her hand and his persona was being held at bay by an exact replica- the Magatsu-Izanagi that resided in the sea of her soul. He stared at the identical copy, confounded momentarily. She knew where she’d seen that look- it was the same look he gave her right after she told him she had feelings for him.

“I’m bringing you back, Tohru…if it’s the last thing I DO!” Her Magatsu-Izanagi surged with power and cut clean through Adachis Persona with a single sweep of its sword, before fading away.

"Don’t you get it!?” he yelled suddenly, “We’re done here. You knew everything, all along, and you lied to me, tried to get close to me…what did you think was gonna happen!? Did you think you could _change_ me!?” He barked out a manic laugh. The gun hung lazily in his hand as he gestured as he spoke. “What, did you think all it took was some good times, some tight pussy, some laughs, to make me think someone actually cared about me, and I’d see the error of my ways and just…turn myself in, or something?”

“No-”

“Don’t come any closer.” She’d been mid-step toward him, but now the gun in his hand was pointed right at her. “I was doing just _fine_ before you turned up, you sly _bitch_.” Her gaze moved slowly between his eyes, wild but focused on her, and the barrel of the gun.

This all felt too familiar.

She could almost see them- the boy she called “Yu”, and another Adachi, in the same position. That Adachis hand wasn’t shaking. The Adachi in front of Yu was smug and resolved, taunting him. The Adachi standing in front of Yuko was wavering, looking like he might bolt at any moment.

“Don’t you even want to know how I know all this?”

“I don’t care.”

“Too bad, I’m telling you anyway. If you want me to shut up, you’re going to have to shoot me.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “This isn’t the first time this has happened. You’ve been here, over and over, and every time it ends like this. I think that’s why I’m here. Because Yu couldn’t bring about any other ending. All he could do was come here to stop you and lecture you on ‘bonds’ and ‘friendship’ and all that crap. But that doesn’t mean much to people like you and me, does it? Of course he’d never understand.”

“Yeah, he was always full of-” he cut himself off in confusion, visibly struggling to even form the questions he needed answers to.

Yuko smiled faintly. “See? Nanako confirmed it, too- that Yus efforts had some sort of lasting effect on us. And that’s not the only thing…” She started walking toward him, slowly, one step at a time, but unwaveringly. “There was supposed to be more. Taro Namatame has our power, too. Remember him? He was supposed to use his powers to put more people into the TV, thinking he was saving them. He thought so because you gave him the idea. Didn’t he call the station?”

“Namatame…Yeah, I remember. That politician Yamano was seeing. He did call the station…” Adachi was lowering the gun now, looking vacantly at the ground as if he might find some sort of explanation there. Yuko had stopped walking, letting him put the pieces together as she raced to figure out the chain of events herself. “As soon as I heard his name, I hung up. I didn’t even think about it. Why would I…?”

“Was it because you had a bad feeling? Like, that phone call was going to bring about something you’d regret?” He raised his eyes to look at her again, and she knew she’d hit the nail on the head. “I knew it. When I realised the kidnappings never happened, and realised why they happened in the first place, I knew it was because of you. You’d had some sort of change of heart.” She took another step toward him, and realising he’d lowered his gun, he hastily pulled it back up to aim straight at her head. Unfazed, she kept going, until her forehead rested on the cold barrel of the gun. “There was even a time where Yu covered for you. He destroyed the evidence, so you’d get away with it all. I think…that’s where I came from. He put himself through all that, and still, he could never understand you. So either he, or some…higher being, willed me into being. Someone the complete opposite of Yu. I don’t know if falling for each other was part of the plan, but…I’m…” she looked down at her hands, thinking if she stared hard enough, she could look right through them. “…Empty. Broken. I don’t have friends, or talent, or bonds to fall back on. All I have is you, and I need you,” she looked up at him again with a sad smile. “…And you need me.”

She brushed the gun aside with her hand with no resistance from him, stepped forward into him, and held him close.

“Why…?”, he whispered. “You knew, and you still…why? I’m not the person you-”

“Yes, you are,” she said firmly. “The Tohru-kun that ate dinner with us, and made me laugh, and helped Nanako with her homework, and went drinking with Dojima, who made me fell in love with him…That’s a part of you too. The truth is, everyone’s just acting. Pretending to be a good person. So…” she buried her face in his chest and clutched him tighter, “come home, and pretend with me a little longer…please?”

She heard the gun clatter to the ground, and slowly, his hands found their way to her back, resting there lightly. “I wish you’d come along sooner,” he murmured, sounding drained. “If I’d met you back then…maybe none of this would’ve happened.”

“I got here as fast as I could.”

His arms closed around her, drawing her in, and she could feel his shoulders shaking. She pushed him to the edge of the musty single bed in the corner, forcing him to sit while she straddled him, brushing their lips together with the lightest of touches until his eyes fluttered closed and he gave in to her caresses. They hurriedly undressed one another, and their following lovemaking was desperate, rough and passionate. He came inside her, both of them too far gone to even think about protection or pulling out, and they rode out the throes of pleasure with his arms around her waist pulling her flush against him, and his face buried in her neck, trying to saturate all of his senses with her.

They ended up lying together on the bed, both facing the stained ceiling with Yuko on top, her head on his chest and their fingers interlaced, not unlike the first night where they’d professed their feelings for one another. The stale air was cold on their bare skin, but comfortably so after their heated activities.

Yuko found herself eyeing the spot they were standing less than an hour ago. She wondered if this was the last time they would be stood there, with Adachi pointing a gun at another Yuko. If there was another, and if she had any influence at all over the next Yuko, and they ended up in the exact same position, she willed her to keep trying, to never give up on him. Maybe after they’d been through this enough times, after she’d shown him enough love, there would be a version of Inaba in which there was no first murder.

The fog never did spread beyond Inaba, much less take over reality. It didn’t go away, either. Yuko and Adachi speculated that whatever mythological, supernatural beings had taken a special interest in them had either lost interest, or decided it was much _more_ interesting to leave them be for now, to see what they did next. Or maybe they had just taken pity on them. It didn’t much matter any more.

If this was the closest they could get to a happy ending, they were willing to take whatever they could get, for as long as they had left.


End file.
